BBC News has set out further details of the new TV news channel which will launch next year, replacing its two existing separate news channels for UK and global audiences. The channel, which will be called BBC News, is expected to launch in April 2023.
This forms part of the plan announced earlier this year to create a modern, digital-led and streamlined organisation that drives the most value from the licence fee and delivers more for audiences.
BBC News Digital Director Naja Nielsen says: “Our aim is to create the best live and breaking video news service in the world - on our web pages, our apps, on BBC iPlayer and on our new TV news channel.
“The way audiences consume news is changing. In recent years we’ve seen a huge surge in audiences coming to our live coverage, with tens of millions following live pages when big stories and events unfold.
“As the world’s most trusted source of news, with a huge depth and breadth of expertise, the BBC is uniquely placed to offer audiences the best analysis and explanation as these stories are unfolding. So we are investing in new capability to cover breaking news stories, and our news channel and digital teams will work hand in hand to bring the best journalism to audiences both at home and abroad.”
The channel will be broadcast around the world, bringing the BBC’s trusted journalism to international audiences and providing licence fee payers in the UK with ad-free access to a huge range and breadth of international coverage which hasn’t previously been available to them. It will feature new flagship programmes built around high-profile journalists, and programmes commissioned for multiple platforms.
UK viewers will receive specific content at certain times of the day, and during certain news stories. A new live and breaking news team will provide universally available coverage of global breaking news, and – when relevant - a domestic-only stream for UK-specific news events, ensuring that audiences get the best live video coverage of the news that matters most to them.
Further details of the plans include:
- The channel will be broadcast from London during UK daytime hours, and then Singapore and Washington DC. The BBC will invest in new on and off-screen journalism roles in Washington DC.
- Sports programming will be a mixture of the UK-facing Sportsday and new global-facing sports programmes.
The BBC will invest in visualising programmes based on popular radio shows, with new technology and studio capacity to do so. This will begin with the BBC Radio 5 Live Nicky Campbell programme, which will be broadcast on BBC Two on weekday mornings as well as on the UK stream of the new channel.
BBC Studios will continue to have responsibility for securing commercial revenues from the channel outside the UK, primarily through advertising, returning funding to the BBC that can be reinvested in public service journalism. The channel will remain ad-free in the UK.
These plans are now subject to consultation with staff and trade unions.
